Sourdough Discard Banana Bread
Sourdough banana bread is the ultimate bread mashup you didn’t know you needed in your life. Remember in early 2020 when everyone was trying to find the best banana bread recipe? Well, if you found my banana bread during that time, you probably didn’t do much searching after that. Today, we’re making that recipe even better with sourdough discard! Adding sourdough discard to this recipe doesn’t make it have a particularly sour flavor, certainly not as much as sourdough bread. Instead, we add the discard to 1) reduce food waste and 2) introduce a subtle depth of flavor. Just like in regular banana bread, the bananas are quite overpowering here (in a good way), especially if they are super ripe. The final result is super moist, flavorful, and fun, especially with the crisp, sugary topping.
What’s so special about this recipe?
Freezes beautifully, either as a whole loaf or in slices. Can handle add-ins like nuts or chocolate chips. Tastes incredible; not sour, but there is a depth of flavor here that you won’t find in regular banana bread. Reduces food waste by using up old bananas and sourdough discard.
What You Need
Most of these ingredients below will look pretty familiar if you’ve made my banana bread, with one obvious exception. Here’s what you need.
Ripe bananas. The riper the better! I’m talking super brown, soft, begging-to-be-thrown away bananas. I find I usually need about 3 large bananas to get 1 ½ cups, but you may need more or less depending on the size of yours. Sourdough discard. You’ll have this on hand if you’re working with an active sourdough starter. Don’t have one? Check out my sourdough starter post to join in on all the fun! Sugar. You will need three types of sugar for this recipe: brown sugar, granulated sugar, and coarse granulated sugar. The brown sugar can be either light or dark brown; darker will add a richer flavor. If you don’t have coarse granulated sugar for sprinkling on the top, regular will work just fine there too! Vanilla. I like to use a hefty pour of vanilla in my banana recipes, like my banana cake and banana muffins. I find it really complements the banana flavor, similar to using vanilla wafers in banana pudding. Cinnamon. A half teaspoon of cinnamon adds a nice bit of complexity to this sourdough banana bread without overwhelming it. If you like a more pronounced cinnamon flavor, you can increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon.
SAM’S TIP: I swapped buttermilk for whole milk in today’s recipe, since sourdough discard adds its own subtle flavor and tang. You could always use buttermilk (or my buttermilk substitute) instead; however, I just didn’t find it necessary here. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Sourdough Banana Bread
SAM’S TIP: My sourdough banana bread freezes beautifully! You can either wrap and freeze the whole loaf, or wrap the individual slices for grab-and-go breakfasts/snacks. Whichever you decide, just make sure to wrap the bread very well in plastic wrap before freezing in an airtight container or freezer bag. Are you sick of sourdough yet? I sure hope not! I won’t be sharing another sourdough recipe for a little while, so keep practicing your sourdough pizza crust and sourdough crackers in the meantime. Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
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